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Cast: Adolf Hitler
More than any other documents, it is the personal private letters written by the German people to Adolf Hitler that provide the most intimate details of the Third Reich. A treasure of more than 100,000 such letters was recently found, hidden in a secret Russian archive.
The uncensored letters, which include declarations of loyalty, love letters and the occasional words of protest, reveal the true feelings of the German people - their hopes, longings and fears.
As one man wrote in April 1932, a day after elections made the Hitler an unstoppable force: "We only want Adolf Hitler as leader, as dictator. We National Socialists want to see a ban on all newspapers that inject poison into our Fuehrer, to see Jews classified as what they are...We will give our blood to Adolf Hitler! Take an iron hand and fulfill your programme with a dictatorial will. Do not negotiate but act!"
Women who wrote particularly ardent letters were monitored by the Gestapo as Hitler feared that his cult of personality could lead to a destabilization of home life in the Reich. As his power became absolute, so the tempo of the letters increased. Like a seismograph, they reflect the changing mood in Nazi Germany, and the highs and lows of the German spirit, from 1932 to 1945.
This documentary is fascinating and it gives you a good idea about how the German people felt about their leader from 1932 to 1945. If the film has any downsides to it it's the one hour run time it has. It is impossible to get a fair assessment of the over-all feeling of the people in such a short time simply because there were way too many letters sent to him and the filmmaker here could only use so many examples. Now you can say behind the scenes they indeed did go through the letters and picked the ones that presented the over-all feelings which is quite possible. Still I think the film could of and should of been at least two hours long in order to give a more accurate reading on how the people felt.
In the end I still think most people with enjoy the film, I certainly found it engaging and informative as well as a bit disturbing. To think that anyone could have positive feelings towards such a monster is indeed more than a bit uneasy. But these type of documentaries are always thought-provoking and they do provide some good material for discussion. If you're a fan of documentaries then "Dear Uncle Adolf" is one to check out, it is a film that takes a different look at this madman and his influence he had on his people at the time. The DVD comes with the bonus feature:
WW2 Film Gallery
You can order the DVD HERE.
Released by First Run Features
*** 1/2 Out Of *****